Soldiers cannot avoid getting their uniforms dirty while carrying out their missions, especially on the battlefield. Activities such as maneuvering through muddy terrains or dusty battlefields, and oil-contaminated environment make their clothing dirty. Keeping soldier uniforms clean becomes a lower priority, but it's a capability that still needs to be maintained. To remove dirt and/or contaminants from their clothing, enzymatic, surface active, and/or oil-dissolving detergents are needed. Furthermore, it is necessary to keep the soldiers safe from exposure to wet and cold weather, and in a CB contaminated environment.
Current durable water repellent (DWR) treatment is based on C8 chemistry (perfluorooctanoic acid) that is now banned by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). DWR treated clothing keeps the soldier from getting wet in the rain; however, it is washed off over time and not dirt/dust repellent. Current DWR (C8) treated textiles cause heat stress, and lose their liquid repellency after repeated washing and abrasions. C6 (perfluorohexanoic acid) omniphobic treated textiles are durable and repellent to many low surface tension liquids, but many are wetted by methanol and chemical warfare agent (CWA) simulants, and the Ultra EverShield® omniphobic coating that is based on a C6 chemistry, and was developed by the Army Natick RDE Center and commercially transitioned in December 2013 may eventually be targeted by the EPA as well.
Omniphobicity is the ability of a surface to not becoming wet by water (hydrophobicity) as well as liquid chemicals, organic solvents, and oils (oleophobicity). The surface of a hydrophobic treated fabric can only resist water and is easily wet by liquid chemicals, organic solvents, and oils. An oleophobic treated fabric has a dual micro and/or nano-structure that resists liquid chemicals, solvents, & oils. Surfaces that are omniphobic resist wetting by both water and liquid chemicals, solvents, & oils. Superomniphobicity also have the ability to resist surface wetting by low surface tension liquids such as Octane.
It would be desirable to provide textile surfaces that exhibit extreme repellency to low surface tension nonpolar (e.g., Hexadecane, hexane) and polar (e.g., methanol) liquids, while its conformal coating is allowing air and moisture vapor permeation.